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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29220930">a woven thread</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroeko/pseuds/kuroeko'>kuroeko</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Inazuma Eleven, Inazuma Eleven: Ares no Tenbin, Inazuma Eleven: Orion no Kokuin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, M/M, afufubu main ship, there's other side characters from each team but too much to tag</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:36:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,790</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29220930</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroeko/pseuds/kuroeko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>One knot over the other, bringing them closer.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Afuro Terumi | Aphrodi/Fubuki Shirou, Hadeno Tetsu | Hades/Heruse Arisu | Perseus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a woven thread</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thank you <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enkidudu"> Enkidudu</a> for beta! Also the same person who brought up misangas to me and then watched me write a whole fic about it. For Valentine's Day! But super fluff haha.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aphrodi first noticed it when he saw Perseus clap Hades on the back after a good play, the boy’s Eleven Band on his wrist was partially obscured by a curiously woven bracelet. Upon further observation in the locker room when they were changing, he saw that Hades had a matching one as well, looped and hidden on his ankle. </p><p><em>Maybe it’s a thing for lovers,</em> Aphrodi mused to himself while pulling a loose white t-shirt over his head. He wanted to head out to the bookstore today, and didn’t want to stand out in his school uniform. Slipping on some comfortable sneakers, he patted his black shorts down, then went around to make sure everyone else had also cleaned up to his standards. </p><p>“Apollon, your shirt’s sticking unevenly out of your pants.” He went over to help Zeus’ defender, only to notice a differently colored woven bracelet on Apollon’s wrist. Aphrodi stopped, knowing that Apollon was 99.99% single.</p><p>“Oh, thanks Captain!” The short brown-haired boy stopped fussing with his silver headband and reached behind to untuck his shirt, only to have Aphrodi grab his outstretched wrist. Apollon froze, unsure of what was happening as the team captain pulled the wrist upwards and stared at it. Conversation in the locker room ground to a halt, as everyone noticed this unusual action from their leader. </p><p>“Um, Captain, is something wrong with my Eleven Band?” Apollon twisted his wrist slightly, trying to see if there might be a problem with the screen display. </p><p>“No, it’s fine. What’s this?” Aphrodi moved a finger forward, hitching up the woven bracelet slightly with his fingertip. “I see a couple of you have this, does this mean something?” The silver and brown threads here were slightly tattered and stained, having been worn for a long enough time to begin discoloring. A couple threads near the sides and middle had even begun fraying, partially unraveling the tight weave that bound the entire bracelet together. </p><p>“This...? It’s just a misanga,” the confused defender explained, now having to suddenly defend his jewelry choices. “A friendship bracelet,” he hastily clarified as he watched those golden brows furrow at his answer. </p><p>“Oh? But...Hades and Perseus have one as well, and theirs match,” Aphrodi turned and gave the two sudden targets of his attention a level stare. Their relationship was well known amongst the team, but this still caught both of them off guard. </p><p>“Captain, it’s not like...we aren’t friends if we’re dating.” Hades carefully replied as Perseus reddened slightly and tugged at his own short hair braid to distract himself. The blue and orange weave on his wrist bounced as he did so. Aphrodi realized that those were their respective hair colors, woven into one. </p><p>“Wait, did you make those yourself?” It was too much of a coincidence to come from something off of any shop. </p><p>“Well most of the time you make them and exchange them with a friend.” Artemis’ voice seeped out from under his stone mask, lifting up his hand and showing off his own misanga. His was grey and...another shade of grey. Probably to match his mask. </p><p>“Oh. I see.” Aphrodi let go of Apollon’s wrist, now realizing he probably could’ve just looked this up on his own without making such a fuss in the locker room. </p><p>“If you want one, we can make and exchange them as well?” Apollon was looking at him with eyes of pity, and Aphrodi suddenly felt extremely self conscious as everyone else reassessed how they saw their friendship bracelet-less captain. </p><p>“That’s alright, I don’t-”</p><p>“Wait, tomorrow, I can bring some materials and we can all make bracelets together!” Athena suddenly piped up, seeing a chance for the team to bond further together. After drawing everyone’s attention with the bold proclamation, he crossed his bare arms and surveyed them all. </p><p>“It’s a side hobby of mine, but I usually give finished ones to friends,” he explained, unashamed of his interests. “But it would be fun to help and teach everyone!”</p><p>“I suppose...that would be fun.” Aphrodi finally smiled, and the atmosphere in the locker room lightened. Chatter turned to what colors each one would use for one another, or if everyone should just make the same one and exchange. There wasn’t enough time to make ten friendship bracelets, much less different ones. </p><p>“Maybe just keep someone in mind and make it for them. Or make one for yourself.” Athena advised some of the other members that didn’t have friendship bracelets at the moment. Aphrodi overheard the advice, and thought over who he’d give a bracelet to. There was someone he had in mind, but they didn’t speak too often. They were friends, though, and sometimes he wished they could be a little more than just that.</p><p>---</p><p>“I’m bored of just playing soccer!” </p><p>Fubuki turned towards the source of the bold complaint that had just been announced on the soccer field, a little further from where most of the team was resting under the shade of nearby evergreen trees. Silver hair wafting slightly in the hot wind, he suppressed a sigh upon making eye contact with the one person on the team that would say that. Their similarly colored eyes met, and the pink haired princess lightly stamped one of her feet.</p><p>“Let’s do something else! I don’t want to kick a ball around all day anymore, we don’t even have any matches coming up!” Nae crossed her arms, making it very clear that she was not moving unless the team captain acquiesced to her wishes. </p><p>“That’s fine, we’ll be able to practice better without someone bumbling through the field and blocking all my shots.” Another voice entered the fray, and Fubuki had to suppress another sigh as he turned to wrangle his brother, whose fiery orange head of hair matched how quickly the younger boy’s temper flared up at any time. </p><p>“Atsuya, be polite. We’re all one team here.” He turned to look at Nae, who now had a look on her face that meant she was thinking up some other activity already. “And Nae, you have to remember we are all one team, we can’t just-”</p><p>“You’re RIGHT! We’re all one team, but we don’t really act like one.” She uncrossed her arms and now rested her hands on her hips. “What we really need is some team bonding activity. <em>Not</em> soccer, something other than that, and I have just the idea! Let’s all make friendship bracelets!” She spread her arms wide in the air at the final announcement, only to be met with silence from the entire team. </p><p>“That’s so stupid.” Atsuya remarked, going back to his riveting activity of plucking some blades of lawn grass from the soccer green.</p><p>“Aw, do you not have friends, Atsuya?” Nae gave him a look of such pity that he immediately crushed the few blades he still had in his hand.</p><p>“I’m going to make 100 friendship bracelets. I have more friends than you, <em>princess</em>,” he snarled, pushing himself up from his sitting position and heading into the club room. “Hurry up losers, or else there won’t be enough string left.”</p><p>“I….” Fubuki looked at his bemused team, then at the high sun overhead, then back at the two problem club members now ready for what looked like a fight over pink string in the clubroom. Nae had procured a good amount of string from her bag, and wasn’t letting Atsuya touch any of it.</p><p>“We are going to make friendship bracelets today.” He firmly announced, averting his gaze from his fellow team members and walking into the clubroom, readying himself to break up another fight. </p><p>---</p><p>Everyone crowded around Athena as he pulled out a bulging bag of supplies to share with the rest of the team in the clubroom. Neatly wound spools of embroidery threads were tied together with rubber bands, separated out by colors. Aphrodi hadn’t realized how many subtle shades of a single color existed in the world, but by how just the pack of “reds” consisted of about 15 different thread colors, he realized that this whole color picking thing might be harder than he’d expected. </p><p>“Wait, don’t just grab threads.” The bracelet-weaving master stopped eager hands from messing up his carefully ordered materials and gathered them back up onto the desk. “First, let’s get you all set up to actually weave something. Everyone find some hard surface that’s <em>movable</em>, don’t use a desk or something, and bring it over to me.” The group dispersed to grab clipboards, binders, notebooks, and confused Hermes brought back his Eleven License and had to be reoriented towards a larger object. </p><p>“<em>Now</em> everyone can pick their threads, here’s some examples of what you can make.” Artemis showed them a couple he’d decided to bring that had fairly easy knots and weaves so anyone could copy them. The boys leaned in to look at the different bracelets, some with V-patterns, others simple stripes, and a couple that had 3D effects as well. The colors varied between each bracelet, showcasing contrasting threads where one especially popped out, or a soft gradient that wound through the weave. Everyone had an opinion on which was the best one, and soon settled on one to emulate, or a mishmash of techniques to form into their ideal bracelet. </p><p>Aphrodi’s eye caught on a simple one, just a V-shaped pattern, and reached out to run his fingers over it. </p><p>“That’s a Chevron pattern! If you’re interested, it takes a bit more focus but the result is nice.” Artemis filled in the knowledge for his team captain, wondering who would be getting the resulting friendship bracelet.</p><p>“These bracelets are pretty thin and light.” Aphrodi commented, letting it drop back onto the desk. “I think I’ll make one with this pattern!” It suited the receiver, and maybe the V-shaped pattern could stand for victory.</p><p>“Let me help you get started, then. I have a pattern book here, so you can take a photo with your phone first, and then pick the string colors you’d like and I’ll help you cut and set up the initial bits.” The rest of the team was also setting themselves up, and soon Artemis found himself overwhelmed with questions and also unknotting stray thread. His captain wandered off to pick out thread colors, absentmindedly reorganizing everything after the rest of the team had blustered through in their enthusiasm.</p><p><em>What colors would be good…</em>. He thought of silver, like the soft hair that tufted slightly around the boy’s nape. <em>Teal? </em>Those eyes were always so beautiful, with the edges that drooped slightly and ended in soft lashes. But Aphrodi wanted to sneak a bit of himself in there as the weave was supposed to be a bond between them, somehow. He’d have to be more subtle, more careful. Sorting the threads, his hands stopped as two loose spools fell over next to him.</p><p><em>If I separate them with another neutral color in between, this might work.</em> Aphrodi picked them up, then went to where Artemis was trying to get a handle on teaching 10 teenage boys how to braid strings. He’d make a nice little friendship bracelet, then get it to the recipient somehow.</p><p>---</p><p>“Now you knot this string forward, like this.” Everyone watched as Nae pulled a string forward and looped it around one of the other strings hanging loose from the top knot. The clubroom was strangely silent as the demonstration continued in front of them. All their focus was on trying to wrestle the slippery strings, even Fubuki himself finding this harder than he’d expected. Keeping tabs on which strings went where, and the correct knotting pattern for each took nearly all of his attention. Atsuya was silent next to him, orange brows furrowed as the normally boisterous boy worked on not messing up his weaving sequence. </p><p>Fubuki was only a few rows in, but the bracelet was already starting to take shape. Each knot had him more comfortable with the sequence, and relaxing more as time went on. The colors he’d chosen had come easier than he’d thought, as there was someone in mind when he looked through the different loops of threads. He’d dodged all the questions on who it was for, although Atsuya had taken one look and given a decidedly rude huff upon seeing the colors. </p><p><em>It would make a nice casual present, maybe he won’t even know what it means. </em>The boy was flashy anyways, and liked to wear accessories on days off. Fubuki had been taken aback once seeing him in casual clothes and quite a few pieces of jewelry. It had looked good on him, though, but really everything looked good on that boy. With that in mind, Fubuki bent forward over his little project and kept working at it. </p><p>---</p><p>In an attempt to distract himself from the realities of life, Aphrodi did something unusual and actually checked his mailslot for once. Slotting in the key, he turned and pulled open the door to see the crammed layers of junk mail and bills within. </p><p>“Trash, all trash,” he muttered, reaching in and grasping the thick papers. He locked the mailslot back up, then headed up the stairs to get to his apartment while rifling through the different ads and envelopes. Nothing new, except-!</p><p>Aphrodi nearly tripped over the top step as he stopped in the narrow stairway and pulled out a simple white envelope. The addresses were handwritten in neat blue ink, and the sender was none other than a certain Fubuki Shirou, all the way from Hokkaido.</p><p>“No way….” Having to stop himself from throwing the remaining envelopes over his shoulder and rushing into his empty apartment, Aphrodi steadied his shaking hand and hurried to unlock his door. Feet stumbling over one another as he kicked off his shoes, he rushed to the kitchen counter and searched for a pair of scissors to ease open the envelope. Nearly settling on a knife in his frustration of misplacing his kitchen scissors, he finally spotted them on the cluttered dining table where he normally did homework. He pulled open the curtain windows while walking over with the envelope in hand, marveling at the little envelope in his hands, then noticed it wasn’t perfectly flat. </p><p>“Something’s in it?” He picked up the scissors and eased it in, slicing neatly across the top fold and opening up the little package. His hands fumbled slightly as he pried open the paper envelope, then upended it onto the dining table to view the contents. </p><p>“This-!” Aphrodi couldn’t believe what he was seeing as a slim note fell out, along with a friendship bracelet neatly wrapped in plastic. Sunlight poured over the two items, reflecting off of the plastic bracelet and causing it to sparkle slightly. His two hands reached down and lovingly picked it up, turning it around to admire the knots and weave which he now knew were much harder to make than they looked. Each bit was so even, although slightly warped at the start, showing that Fubuki had been a beginner when making this. He placed it back down, then reached for the note that was facedown on the table when his phone suddenly rang. </p><p>“Who the hell, at <em>this</em> time-oh shit.” The phone screen was showing a rare caller ID, and Aphrodi hesitated a moment before picking up, wondering if there was a camera in his house or something.</p><p>“Aphrodi?” Fubuki’s voice came through the speaker, and Aphrodi eased back a chair from the table to sit in for the unexpected call.</p><p>“Speaking,” Aphrodi smoothly replied, folding his arms on the table and resting his head on them. A comfortable position for an unusual conversation. He wondered if Fubuki might be doing the same right now, or where the boy was even at. Fubuki rarely called him, but was even worse at texting or keeping up social media. Once in a blue moon they’d talk, maybe exchange some information on other teams, but otherwise they barely kept in contact.</p><p>“I came home today, actually just a little bit ago...and my mom let me know there was a letter for me. Turns out it was from you! I was really surprised, and wanted to call and thank you, since you took the time and everything….” </p><p>“Oh it got there already?!” Aphrodi had only mailed it out a few days ago. Five, actually, if he counted the days on the calendar hanging on the nearby wall. But had Fubuki mentioned the gift inside it?!</p><p>“Did um, did it all get there safely?” Aphrodi asked, reaching forward with a hand and beginning to play with the edges of the opened envelope in front of him.</p><p>“Yes...did you make the bracelet yourself?” And on the other side of the phone, Fubuki stood in the middle of his room. He was holding up the surprise friendship bracelet that had tumbled out of the haphazardly taped-up envelope when he’d carefully opened it. The colors woven through it were bright, almost glowing slightly under the light in his room that seeped in through sheer curtains.</p><p>“...I did.” A crackle could be heard on the other side of the line, but the normally effusive fellow captain was silent after that response.</p><p>“I didn’t know you still remembered my address.” Fubuki turned over the envelope, admiring Aphrodi’s neat handwriting on the side.</p><p>“It was from when we exchanged New Years Cards,” Aphrodi hurriedly tried to clear himself of any stalker tendencies, also wanting to ask the same of Fubuki. </p><p>“Did you make this bracelet yourself as well?” He pulled out the bracelet from inside the plastic and ran his fingers over the smooth knots. Thinking about Fubuki weaving it...that vision was too pure to hold in place for too long.</p><p>“Yes, ah, I hope it fits.” Fubuki looped Aphrodi’s bracelet over his wrist, and smiled as the ends flopped near each other before hanging loose in the air. “Yours fits perfectly.” </p><p>“Aaah, I’m glad.” Aphrodi tried out his new bracelet as well, and delighted in how it was just the right length so it wasn’t too tight on his wrist. “What a coincidence, that both of us made a bracelet for each other that arrived on the same day.” He’d pretend not to have ignored his mailbox for a week, the forced coincidence sounded much more romantic. </p><p>“That’s true, and similar colors as well.” Fubuki couldn’t completely remember if these were the exact same shades, but he liked how the V-shaped weave made them stand out even more. Bright yellow and soft pastel blue, with a thin stripe of white thread that ran in between each block of color. His had been a simple diagonal series of stripes, but that was because Nae had only shown them how to braid that one. The colors had been the same, though, and he wondered why Aphrodi had picked these as well. If they were the same reasons...Fubuki felt his cheeks heating up slightly as he rubbed the bracelet. </p><p>“Was this...a team activity on your part?”</p><p>The question was unexpected, and Fubuki stared out the window while thinking of a reply. </p><p>“Yes, of sorts, a bit unplanned but it was a nice break from training.” </p><p>A soft laugh answered him from the other end, and he wished that he could hear it more often. Even when Aphrodi was interviewed on TV or online, he always seemed a bit distant, his true self one that Fubuki had only glimpsed at times like this. </p><p>“Same for me as well, maybe word will get out and it’ll become the newest hissatsu training tactic.” Aphrodi leaned closer to the phone, wishing he could be there in person and exchange these bracelets with his own hands. </p><p>“Well-” A loud bang from the phone speaker had Aphrodi jumping slightly in his chair, then immediately checking that the call hadn’t been dropped. </p><p>“Fubuki, are you alright?!” He wondered what had happened. Had the boy tripped, fallen? What could he even do to help from so far away?!</p><p>“...Yes, sorry, Atsuya just came in without warning. He tends to just burst into a room.” Fubuki had snatched up the bracelet and envelope at that moment, but a note had fallen out onto the floor that he hadn’t noticed before. Atsuya had sidled off after seeing that his dear brother was on the phone, but narrowed his eyes upon seeing the new bracelet. His own was still sitting on his desk, he hadn’t decided on <em>which </em>one of his multiple friends would receive it yet.</p><p>“O-oh alright, if that’s that then.” Aphrodi suddenly felt self conscious about being on the phone with Fubuki while his brother hung around. That aggressive boy had never taken a liking to him. </p><p>“I should probably go help him with his homework,” Fubuki confessed, figuring that’s why Atsuya had come into his room in the first place. But he didn’t want to hang up just yet, as they rarely called one another. He wanted to ask how Aphrodi was doing. The boy lived alone, and sometimes that worried him. </p><p>“Go on then, we can always catch up later, if you have the time.” The fellow captain was trying to be gracious, but he really wished they could speak for a little longer as well. He’d stay up late doing homework if it would buy him some more call time. </p><p>“Then I’ll call you later tonight.” </p><p>Aphrodi smiled widely upon hearing this response, feeling like a happy fool as Fubuki’s voice filled his empty apartment.</p><p>“Yes, anytime is good, call me whenever it’s convenient for you.” The boy had a full family after all, his schedule would be more cluttered than Aphrodi’s own. </p><p>“Great. Talk to you later, Aphrodi.” Fubuki reluctantly hung up after they exchanged goodbyes, then put down his phone and used his fingers to begin knotting together the ends of the friendship bracelet. Just friends for now, but that bond was more than enough for him. He looked back down and picked up the note to read while the bracelet was still loosely knotted on his wrist. </p><p>“‘Make a wish while you tie it, and the wish will come true when the bracelet naturally falls off’...hm, to think he wrote the same thing.” He laughed softly to himself, then made a far-fetched little wish and finished tying the ends of the bracelet together.</p><p>Alone in his apartment again, Aphrodi finished reading the note, then carefully affixed the bracelet onto his own wrist. He made a wish as well, then lifted up his wrist and gave a little kiss to the woven bracelet before getting up to busy himself with homework before night fell. </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>You can find me  on my <a href="https://twitter.com/kuroekoo">Twitter</a> or my <a href="https://kuroeko.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> !</p><p>Otherwise, see you in my next fic!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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